​Long-term Change

Young people, parents, and schools must be involved in decisions regarding transportation in order for long-term change to take place.

• As the drivers and decision-makers of the future, young people must be involved in efforts to reduce the use of personal vehicles for transportation. This includes involvement in city planning and improving practicality and attractiveness of alternative means of transportation.
  
  
• Youth mobility is dependent upon the automobile, and children grow up associating cars with access to previously inaccessible places. Obtaining an automobile also has implications for parent-child relationships and relationships with peers.
  
• Increases in the frequency with which parents drive students to school have led to serious consequences for children’s spatial skills and perceptions of the environment.
  
  
• Increased knowledge and engagement in environmental issues go hand-in-hand with education. Therefore, we cannot expect a change in transportation attitudes and behavior without an increase in environmental knowledge (not necessarily formal education).